THIS PICTURE REVEALS HOW MUCH OF THE OCEAN WE DON’T SEE

When you wade into the water to cool off and enjoy the surf at the beach, there’s the safety of knowing your feet are touching the ocean’s floor. It feels, for a moment, much like the comfort of land. You are standing, you are aware of what’s beneath you.

And then suddenly you’re not. You are whisked away by the waves and the current, as you use your limbs to keep you afloat. The knowingness of what is actually beneath you begins to disappear, and you are forced into allowing that realization to become okay.

When you jump off a boat in the middle of the ocean, this idea is heightened even further. You are knowingly plunging yourself into a world you know little about. You have seen movies and documentaries, you’ve snorkeled, gone diving, and taken plenty of science classes — all meaningless in the face of the reality of the ocean’s vastness. It is not where you live day in and day out. It’s not made of homes with other humans, a government, a protective police force. It is the wild, and you have come to appreciate and love that, but of course, maintain a healthy dose of respect and fear, too.